


Stray Dog Records - Forgotten Promise

by NepetaLeijon27



Series: BSD/Magia Record crossover [2]
Category: Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story, 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs
Genre: Alternate Universe - Madoka Magica Fusion, Alternate Universe - Magical Girls, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, M/M, Magia Record, Sequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:07:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21918079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NepetaLeijon27/pseuds/NepetaLeijon27
Summary: A few months after the defeat of the Rats, the bond of the Buraiha has been restored and everything has gone back to normal. However, danger is still lurking in Yokohama's underworld...
Relationships: Dazai Osamu/Oda Sakunosuke (Bungou Stray Dogs), Fukuzawa Yukichi/Mori Ougai (Bungou Stray Dogs), Lucy Maud Montgomery/Mark Twain (Bungou Stray Dogs)
Series: BSD/Magia Record crossover [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1535129
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fridayivy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fridayivy/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the best effect, listen to this at the start: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMy_46L3iHA

_The rain is still pouring._

_I am in the middle of a dark forest I don't know how to get out of._

_There is no way but to wait until it clears up._

_Suddenly, a silver wolf approaches me._

_I flinch, scared of this wild animal._

_However, it doesn't seem to be hostile._

_It holds up its paw, and I see that a thorn is stuck in it._

_Carefully, I pull it out._

_At that moment, it is as if a miracle has struck the forest._

_The rain stops, and it clears up._

_The sun breaks through as well._

_I feel like the silver wolf knows the way out._

_I stand up and follow it._

'Ah...' Ranpo suddenly wakes up after that dream has come to a sudden end. 

'That was a nice dream...' He grabs the notebook next to his bed. In it, he has been writing several dreams down he had in the past few days. 'Ever since we defeated the Rats, these dreams are a lot more interesting...' he idly thinks, before getting dressed and going downstairs. 

'Hey, Ranpo.'

Everyone seems to be awake, making him the last to. 'Hey, Dazai.', he greets back. 'Do you have any answer back from the Government?'

Dazai nods and looks up from his phone game. 'Yes. The Book is in safe hands now. Ango has made that sure.'

Once the Buraiha was assembled again, Ango went back to his place in the Government. He directly promised to take care of the Book Dazai and he retrieved from the Rats' catacombs. 

'So...', Ranpo sits down next to him on the sofa. 'How are things?'

'Oh, nothing much besides what I mentioned.', he says. 'I called some people to move stuff from Odasaku's old house.' 

'Ah, yes.', Ranpo recognizes. Odasaku has chosen to join the Agency, but doesn't want to go back to the old house, since it stirs up too many memories. So everything has to be moved into the Agency building. 'Also, I had a really cool dream last night.'

When he says that, Fukuzawa turns to face him. 'Tell me.' he orders. 

He does so. 'It was pretty. I like it.', he says. 'I wrote it down already.'

* * *

That afternoon, he and Kenji go to the room where Odasaku is supposed to move into. The only thing filling it are lots of boxes, and the furniture. 

'Oof. Pretty dusty in here, isn't it?' Kenji moves his hand to his mouth. 

He nods. 'Yeah. That may be a first thing.' Ranpo grabs the top box and wants to open it, as Odasaku halts him. 

'That's fragile stuff. All the top boxes contain fragile stuff. Let's put those aside and start with the bookshelf.'

'You've got a lot of books, don't you?' He opens the boxes one by one to find out which one contains the books. It doesn't take too long before he finds the one, as it is full of books. 

'We've got a lot, yes.', Odasaku says. 'We're not too strict as to how they're ordered. The only thing we want is that you'd put the books with slice of life themes about where we can easily grab them.' 

'Okay, I think I can work with that.' Ranpo shrugs and first takes out all of the books before placing them on the shelf, which Kenji is starting to dust off.

* * *

About half an hour later, he is done with the books. '...oof. That was exhausting.', he says. He has discovered that Odasaku likes to read books with a lot of pages. 'Do you have a chair or something? I think I may want to sit down...' 

Kenji, who is currently sitting on the only chair in the room to observe the windows, stands up. 'Oh, yeah. Do that. I'll move.'

Ranpo gladly takes his place, leans back and closes his eyes for a moment. As he does so, flashes of light appear in front of his eyes. 

'Ah...!' he mutters, accidentally alerting Odasaku. 

'Are you okay?' Ranpo hears.

'Y-yes, I guess so?' He opens his eyes again. 'I think I'm okay.'

'If you need to go back, just say so.', Odasaku is flexible as always. 'Kenji and we can do it too. We'll just need to do a bit more.' 

'No, no, that's not needed.', Ranpo wants to prevent that they think that he is useless. 'What's next?'

But Odasaku does not want to let the topic go. Suddenly, xir tone changes to a stricter one, similar to the one Ranpo and Kenji have heard so many times before. 

'Edogawa Ranpo. We know something is wrong with you. You saw something there you were not supposed to see. What is it?'

As soon as Odasaku makes that tone at him, Ranpo knows that that is a leftover from a few days ago, and that he has to answer.

'...flashes of light. Nothing more, nothing less, okay?' 

'Hey, it may just be strain...', Kenji suggests. 'No need to talk to him like that.' But Odasaku stays skeptical. 

'Keep it in mind.', xe says. 'Let's get back to work.'

* * *

After the cleanup, Odasaku goes to talk to Dazai.

'We're worrying about him.', Odasaku explains. 'There are hints that ever since he got in contact with the Book, he hasn't been the same.'

Dazai slowly nods. 'It's the dreams, isn't it.', He moves his finger to his chin. 'The Book is safe. But it is true that I needed him to find it in the first place. He talked to me about stuff like timelines and universes, and before he did so, I thought I was the only one to know about their existence.'

'But we do too.'

'You do?' Dazai frowns. He never heard this before.

'Being resurrected in the wrong way by the very same Book does that.'

'Would that mean that Ranpo has some sort of connection to the Book?'

Odasaku shakes xir head. 'We don't think so.', xe says, 'We know effects made by the Book when we encounter them.'

'Hmmm...', Dazai holds up his index finger then. 'You need to go talk to Fukuzawa. I'm sure he'll lend you some more information.'

'Fukuzawa? When you mention his name, we vividly remember that he called us a coward back then.', Odasaku still has some trouble seeing the Agency members and Fukuzawa as friends and not as strangers or enemies. 'But we'll try.'

'I'm sure he won't call you a coward again.', Dazai assures Odasaku. 'You're different now.'

'You bet we are.' 

As Odasaku walks back to the living room, Kunikida immediately approaches xir. 

'Have you heard? One of the teachers at the university has been struck by lightning!'

'Lightning? Huh, that came out of nowhere, huh?', Odasaku recalls the flashes of light Ranpo has been seeing. 'How did it happen?'

'Well, it wasn't exactly lightning.', Kunikida clarifies. 'It was an electricity pole that malfunctioned. There was this enormous zap making it look like it was lightning. But essentially, electricity, lightning...they're the same, right? I used to be a math teacher, I'm not good at biology.' Kunikida holds up his hands.

'That's terrible to hear.', Odasaku now knows that the hunch that Ranpo may not be entirely the same since he encountered the Book, may be true. 'But thank you for telling us. Oh, and when did it happen?'

'Not that long ago, I guess...', Kunikida checks the time of the message. 'About fifteen minutes ago, when you were all busy cleaning up.'

'Oh, okay. Excuse me, where is Fukuzawa?' Odasaku decides that xe needs to talk to Fukuzawa immediately. 

'He should be hunting.', Kunikida answers. 'I recall him going out to go hunting.'

'Ah...should we wait for him to come back?' Odasaku thinks that the plan could be put on the backburner for the foreseeable future - literally.

'I don't know. Did you even hunt today?'

Odasaku falls silent. 'Well...'

'Let's go, then.' Before Odasaku can continue, Kunikida already prepares to head out.

'Okay...'

They find a barrier not that long after. 'Say, Odasaku, what do you think is happening to Ranpo?', Kunikida asks. 'I've heard from Dazai that you're worrying that the contact with the Book has been leaving an impact on him. What are you talking about, exactly?'

'That's true.', Odasaku says as Kunikida kills another familiar. 'He knows things he shouldn't know.', Xe explicitly decides not to go into detail, as xe surely doesn't need everyone knowing it. 'Things only Dazai and we know. Dazai says that it is somehow connected to the Book. You know, the one he and Ranpo encountered back at Fendthope.'

'I think I know what you mean. Go on.' Kunikida throws a grenade to some other familiars and then runs deeper into the barrier as soon as he knows sure they're dead. Odasaku follows him.

'Ranpo mentioned knowing those things there. Dazai was surprised.', Odasaku foresees another familiar approaching xir from behind, and xe quickly turns around. As xe does so, a quick flash of an eye opening and closing appears, before it is killed. 'But he didn't go much into it. After all, there were more pressing matters at the moment. But Ranpo now says that he has strange dreams recently, and he mentioned that he didn't have those before the Fendthope incident. On top of that, you told us of that university teacher being struck by electricity. Around the time that incident happened, Ranpo told us he was seeing flashes of light in front of his eyes. So...' Xe shrugs and holds up both hands.

'Hm-hm. I know where you're going.', Kunikida nods quickly. 'The exposure to the Book. So what are you planning to do?'

'Well, we wanted to ask Fukuzawa for details.', Odasaku sees that they are getting deeper and deeper into the barrier, and that it may not last long before they arrive in the last room. 'Oh, and by the way, we're almost there.'

'I'm aware.', Kunikida knows that already, courtesy of veteran experience. 'And that is why you wanted to talk to him. That's clear.'

'Exactly.'

Not long after, they enter the last room. 'Time to go to work.' Kunikida chooses position, knowing that Odasaku will work around it no matter what.

* * *

At another part of Yokohama...

'Ugh. This is the sixth time already.'

'Quit complaining. We have no choice but to show them who really rules Yokohama.'

'Again?'

'Shut up.'

'...'

Three Puer Magi are about to initiate another battle against a gang. It hasn't been long ago since Yokohama has been caught in a gang war. The strangest thing is that not even the mafia knows how the war was initiated, but they have been fighting several gangs for the past few days. But these Puer Magi are not from the mafia.

'I'm so fed up with it already. Do it now.' one of them growls. They are surrounded by enemy gang members, and they don't intend to spend the entire day fighting them. They all transform into magical form, slightly distracting the gang members. 

'Seems like you haven't seen contracted people transformating before, huh.', a Puer Magi with a violet Soul Gem snarks. 'Well, then you're in for more surprises on your last day.' 

A man with a blue Soul Gem walks up to them. 'You're ready?'

'When you are.' The black-haired Puer Magi gives him a mischievous smile. Instead of replying, he lightly touches the fuchsia Soul Gem of their third member. It immediately starts overflowing with taint. And then...

'Whoah, what the fuck?'

'What the heck...is that thing?'

The man smiles evilly. 'Let's go.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course the first boss fight isn't going to happen in chapter 1. That would be strange.


	2. Chapter 2

At the same time, Tachihara and Gin return to the Headquarters. 

'Pfft. That assassin really was nothing. Am I happy. Now I understand why Hirotsu has sent us on that mission without him.' 

Gin just nods. 'Now we're on to the paperwork.'

'That's my least favorite part of the entire thing, really.', Tachihara gestures out of frustration and sighs. 'The damn paperwork.'

'Well, the definition of the word 'Mafia' is 'a form of organized crime', huh.', Gin doesn't even look at Tachihara when mumbling that. 'So I guess you could've known you'd get paperwork when you joined.'

It has been some time ago since Tachihara joined the mafia. Gin can't remember exactly when it was, but she knows that it was some time after Dazai gave up his executive position. No one knows where he came from, just that he was a delinquent who started to make trouble on mafia territory, and eventually agreed to join the mafia.

For some reason, they haven't yet managed to get into the elevator along with the others to Mori's penthouse. The guards aren't the problem - as soon as they see that Gin is trying to get in, they move aside. Behind them, Higuchi speaks up. Tachihara turns around as she speaks to her.

'Oh, yeah, I forgot to say that. The elevator is out of order.'

'Again?' Tachihara sighs. He sees that Higuchi is in magical girl form. Tachihara has always thought that Higuchi is strange, because he has seen her as a Puella Magi but never seen her magic. However, he never said that to her. He also thinks that it is weird that Gin is in the mafia without a contract even, but he suspects it has to do with her contracted brother.

'Apparently.', Gin shrugs and makes a mental note to message Mori later. 'This isn't the first time. Recently, the elevator has proven to be quite capricious in its behavior. It's out of order, only to come back to life after like, an hour or something. Come on, Tachihara. The report can wait.' With that, Tachihara gives up and reluctantly gets to work on the paperwork.

* * *

Meanwhile, Odasaku and Kunikida have just returned from their witch hunt, when...

'What happened when we were away?' Kunikida opens the office only to see it in a complete mess. 

'Well, a gang came in.', Dazai explains. Dazai is sitting where he was this morning, even in the exact same position. 'Not even the mafia or something. Just a random gang. Seems like they were after Ranpo.'

'But we threw them outta the window!' Kenji says with a smile.

As Dazai mentions Ranpo, Kunikida's heart skips a beat. And Odasaku too, is growing worried although the immediate danger has already been taken care of. 

'Where is Fukuzawa? We need to talk to him as soon as possible now!' Odasaku was planning to talk to Fukuzawa earlier that day, but didn't get to it as Kunikida said that he was witch hunting. But if he wasn't back now...

Yosano shrugs. 'I dunno. All he said that he was going witch hunting. But hey, you can send him a message if you want.'

'I'll do it.', Kunikida decides that he is going to do that just when Odasaku wants to reply. 'I'll leave a voicemail and a message on Discorpse. He'll notice either way.' As he does so, Odasaku wonders why it takes so long.

Fukuzawa, in fact, is somewhere else entirely - and definitely not witch hunting. 

'...I guess we can turn on the elevator back on now, huh.'

'Sure.', Mori taps his phone and the elevator immediately turns back on. 'I'll never regret the day I asked the technicians to add it to the electricity management app.' 

'Hm-hm. We can't just let everyone in, I know.', Fukuzawa shrugs. 'Also, I've heard you're in a gang war?'

'That's right.', Mori nods. 'Recently, there has been an overflow of foreign gangs. From neighboring towns to overseas. I really wonder what's up with that.'

'You'd almost think that something's here that isn't elsewhere...', Fukuzawa moves his hand to his chin in thought. 'I mean, we've got the entire Doppel system due to Fyodor rewriting the Book, remember? Maybe it's that. Maybe they think they're free because you'll just restart once your Soul Gem taints.'

A shiver goes down Mori's spine. 'Don't remind me of it. I know that very well. But what, besides that, could bring them here?'

* * *

'He's taking quite the while, huh.', Kunikida mumbles. 'He messaged me back and said that he'll be here in a minute. And, knowing him...'

Atsushi nods. 'The previous time you were not showing up, Kunikida, you were at the Breakup Rumor, remember?'

'Was I?', Kunikida frowns, not remembering anything of the hypnosis it brought upon him. 'Either way, we have to keep calm. After all, everything that happens in such a situation is already set in stone.'

'And so, what do you want us to do?' Dazai knows that in a case that if Fukuzawa were to disappear for any reason, Kunikida would be in command. 

'For now, we're seeking him out. We've been waiting for quite a while now and my instinct says he is in danger.', Kunikida transforms. 'And I have a feeling it is dangerous. We're all going.'

As he says, everyone transforms after him. 'Do you have any idea as to where he could be?', Dazai asks. 'I mean, we could track him down with his trail. Atsushi probably could...'

At the mention of his name, Atsushi looks up and nods again. 'Yeah, I could.', he says. 'Depends on how far he is exactly. I need a starting point.'

Dazai thinks for a bit, then speaks up. 'The Mafia Headquarters.', Strange looks are thrown towards him, but he is fairly sure of his answer. 'Let's go there.'

'Okay then...'

* * *

A little while later, the entire Agency has gathered near the Mafia Headquarters. 'I don't hope Mori will come out and ask what the matter is.', Yosano sighs. 'This is not something you see everyday.'

'Hang on.', Atsushi holds up his index...claw. 'You were right, Dazai. I sense his trail. Follow me.'

'We've barely arrived here and we're on the move again?' Tanizaki sighs.

The closer Atsushi gets, the more Dazai feels a strange trail. 'I don't know, but do any of you feel that this is familiar?', he says. 'Fukuzawa is there certainly. But there's also something else I can't quite place. It resembles the Breakup rumor's trail but...weren't all those rumors in custody of Ango?'

'I don't know, dude.', Kenji shrugs. 'Let's just go and find out.'

And soon enough...

'You're right.', Atsushi finally stops running as they enter a distorted space. 'This is the Breakup rumor. Fukuzawa?'

Fukuzawa is slashing the rumor familiars, but he is getting tired. From time to time, he glances at his darkening Soul Gem, but as the Agency arrives, he looks up. 'You...'

'You could use some help.', Kyouka says in a deadpan manner and sends Demon Snow forward. 'I don't know how but let's ignore logic for now.' 

Driven by Kyouka, Yosano tosses a Grief Seed Fukuzawa's way. 'Thank you...didn't want that thing to come out.' He catches it perfectly and rapidly cleanses his Soul Gem, all while keeping close watch on the enemies. Atsushi and Dazai have opened fire on the Breakup rumor itself. 

'It's just like back in the day, huh.', Dazai wonders. 'How time passes...' He knows this time doesn't lean itself well for reminiscing, but he can't help himself doing that.

'Dazai! Over here!'

'Right!' 

With a last shot from Dazai, the rumor disappears. 'Oof...' 

'Don't you rest now!', Kunikida warns them. 'I feel something else...'

'What?'

Kunikida is right. As soon as he says that, another thing comes out no one can place as a witch or a rumor. 

'...the heck?'

'I have no idea what that is, but I do know it doesn't belong here!' Yosano clenches her teeth and fortifies her grip on her cleaver. 

'Fukuzawa, are you okay?', Atsushi still worries about the Adjuster. 'Looks like we're here just in time. There's no way you're going to fight that thing alone!'

'I'll live!', Fukuzawa says. 'But I'm going to need you all. There's no time to make a strategy, so...I guess we'll have to do that on the fly.'

And so, the Agency prepares to fight once more.

'You know what to do.' Kyouka looks Kenji in the eyes. 

'Roger that!' Kenji runs away from Kyouka, diverting the attention of the thing. Meanwhile, Kyouka gives the other members some Grief Seeds before going straight towards the thing. 

'Ha!'

Because it suddenly is surprised, it angrily rears towards Kyouka, who already has Demon Snow as a shield in front of her. Its attention is no longer on Kenji - exactly what Kyouka was aiming for. Kenji looks for weak points and attacks them. It is confused, due to being attacked from so many sides. Out of frustration, it is about to lash out in both sides. 

'Kenji, look out!'

Suddenly, Ranpo's voice cries out. 

Kenji realizes what is going down in a split second. 'Got it!' He dodges the attack from above, then retaliates back. Such a quick attack is not something it suspects, and there is a big gap for Kenji to go. He takes it full, and pierces its head, aiming for the mouth in a huge jump. 

'Ah!'

That appears to be the finishing blow, as it disappears right after. 'Oof.', Kenji comes down from the risky attack he dealt, landing on his feet like a cat. 'That was it?'

'Apparently?'

'Are you okay, Kenji? That was pretty dangerous, what you did up there.' Kunikida is worried, but appreciates him at the same time. 

'I'm okay, I guess.', Kenji looks at his Soul Gem. 'That thing's gone...'

'But what was that thing?', Dazai scratches the back of his head. 'And how did it summon the Breakup rumor?'

'Ango's the rumor maker, right?', Fukuzawa half-lids his eyes. 'So he's definitely got a hand in this.'

'Don't go accuse him.', Odasaku, another part of the Buraiha, defends Ango although he is not here. 'That will be for later. Another thing that has been puzzling me, is Ranpo.'

'What about me?', Ranpo frowns. 'What's with me?'

'We initially intended to talk to Fukuzawa, but it's better to have you too on it, we think. But not here. Let's head back.'

'Yes, let's do that.'

'...hey.', Kenji tugs at his arm, now suddenly decorated with a silver bracelet. 'Look at this.'

Fukuzawa turns around. 'What's that?' He takes a closer look at it. 

'I don't know, I didn't have it before...'

'Hmm...', Fukuzawa still doesn't know what to make of the entire situation, and tries observing the strange bracelet. 'It seems to have eight glyphs on it. One of them is inlaid with a sapphire. Just as a test, can you take it off?'

'Can try...', Kenji tries taking it off, but fits very tightly around his arm, making him unable to. 'No...I guess it's stuck...'

'Is it because you defeated that thing?', Kyouka suggests. 'As you didn't have it before...'

'Whatever...', Kenji shrugs at her suggestion. 'This thing is new, and I mean, the fight against it...' Then, his eyes go bright as he pauses. '...maybe it wants to go somewhere.'

'What do you mean with 'it'?' Ranpo tilts his head in confusion.

'I-I don't know exactly...probably the thing I defeated there.'

'This may as well belong with it, then.', Kyouka takes it a bit further. 'It's strange enough already...'


	3. Chapter 3

Somewhere else in Yokohama, a bar hidden away in the backstreets is packed with people. No one with a clear conscience and without a Soul Gem would come there. These backstreets, and this bar, is under the control of the mafia. Everyone knows that.

But still, the door swings wide open. The regulars stop with whatever they are doing and turn around. A man walks in, with a confident step but not with a too overly air of pride around him. He has short, grey hair and equally grey eyes. Like all the people in there, he is transformed and wears a Puer Magi costume consisting of various tints of blue. The best thing he looks like is an onmyouji, with the blue kitsune mask tied around his head.

No one dares to say a word while he walks up to the counter and orders the man behind it - the owner - with a rugged voice: 'Give me something of that junk and something that doesn't resemble dishwashing water.' He points with his thumb to the plate of someone else. The owner turns around while the man waits. Whispers go round as soon as he does that. 

'Who is he...'

'I dunno, but...'

Soft as they may be, the Onmyouji Puer Magi hears them. However, he does not care. He knows that the underworld of Yokohama may be too young to know his name and identity. But he also knows that that will change soon if it's up to him. 

Not long after, the owner throws down a plate in front of him and a dirty cup, both with unidentable contents. The Puer Magi takes a sip and a bite, but not more than that. The owner speaks up.

'That'll be four.'

'Four Grief Seeds for this shit?', The Puer Magi looks away in disgust. 'You're too expensive.'

'What did you just say?'

'You're too expensive.' He repeats it without fearing the growing anger in the owner's voice.

'It's just like I've heard. This place is busted.' He spits out that last word as his eyes glow for a short moment, and a blue mist gathers around his right hand. He turns around and waves around with that hand once.

'W-who are you?' The owner, now scared of the attitude of this Puer Magi, asks for his name. 

'Oh...', He gives him a small smile. Behind him, a bar fight starts to form. 'That's not really important, but...' He looks at the fighting people, contently watching as he sees that all people have his Witch Kiss. 

'Kyougoku Natsuhiko.'

He walks out.

* * *

'I'm going to look for Ango.', Fukuzawa says resolute once the Agency makes their way back to base. 'He's got to have to do with this. He at least knows something, I feel it.' 

'Fukuzawa!', Dazai shouts. 'Ango's my and Odasaku's friend. Someone must've used the rumors without his knowledge.'

'I know that very well.', Fukuzawa says with a calm yet strict tone in his voice. 'Any idea as to where he may be? We're going to talk, not fight. God damn, no, we're not going to fight anymore today if it's on me.'

That does nothing to console Dazai's worries. However, Odasaku speaks up. 'We're coming along, Dazai and us. Just...to make sure it goes well. After all, he made the rumors for us to begin with.'

'That is true.', Fukuzawa closes his eyes. 'Come along. You must have him in your contacts.'

'The Discorpse message is sent just now.', Dazai says as he looks up from his phone. 'We will meet at the 10,000 Year Sakura.'

'Oh yeah, that thing still exists.', Fukuzawa scratches the back of his neck. 'I must've forgot about that.'

'However, that rumor is actually my idea.', Dazai holds up his index finger to remind them. 'But it is Ango who realized it.'

'That doesn't matter for now.', Fukuzawa says as he, Dazai and Odasaku start making their way towards the Sakura tree. 'Ango is a timely man. He'll arrive there if nothing is holding him up.'

He is right. As they arrive at the peaceful field with the giant Sakura tree in the middle, Ango is already sitting on one of the chairs in front of it. He turns around as he notices that the others have come too.

'There you are. You wanted to talk to me?' he asks, a little surprised that Fukuzawa is there too. 

'Well, actually, it's me who wanted to talk.', Fukuzawa places his flat hand on his chest. 'They're here too, because well, they're your friends.'

'That's right.', Ango nods. 'What did you wanted to talk about?'

'Let's give you some context first.', Dazai says before Fukuzawa can utter a word. 'An hour ago or something we ran into Fukuzawa who was fighting. He was fighting the Breakup rumor, which was strange considering you took care of the rumors before.'

'Hm-hm.', Ango slowly nods, but does not do more than that. 'Strange indeed.'

'We helped him, of course.', Odasaku continues. 'We're talking about the entire Agency by now, because we were worried as his witch hunt was taking quite a while.'

'They came to my help just in time.', Fukuzawa adds. 'After the initial confusion we defeated the Breakup rumor together again. But just as we thought it was over...'

'This huge creature showed up. It was even bigger than the rumors.', Dazai gestures to illustrate his point. 'Don't worry, we defeated it eventually. Kenji dealt the last blow.'

'So your question is what the rumors did there?' Ango already guesses their question. 

'Yeah.'

'Well, I have to say...', Ango pauses, leaving the other three in suspense. '...that I haven't heard of anything like this before.'

'What?', Fukuzawa is taken aback by this comment. 'So the rumor creator doesn't know why the rumors are running around?'

'Simply said, I don't know what the rumors are up to. I put them under the strict confinement of the government. They are still in the concept drawings and notes I made all those years ago.'

Right after he says that, Sakurako comes their way. '|You need something?|' she asks. 

'And this is...' Fukuzawa, who has not met Sakurako, is a little confused. 

'This is Sakurako Sakaguchi, the manifestation of the 10,000 Year Sakura.', Dazai introduces her. 'And since the 10,000 Year Sakura is my idea, it was for Odasaku and Ango realized her, she is the daughter of three fathers.'

'You...could put it like that, yeah.', Odasaku thinks about it a bit. 'That's true.'

'I had no idea rumors could manifest like this.', Fukuzawa is still confused, but adapts to the situation quickly. 'You haven't escaped your owner, have you?'

'|I have no idea what you are talking about.|' she says. Her voice sounds more human than it did originally, but it is still a bit stilted. 

'Ignore that.', Ango orders her. 'It's not the topic. Do you know of other rumors that have started to disobey me without me knowing?'

Sakurako stays silent for a while, then starts to talk again. '|In what way?|'

Fukuzawa sighs deeply, as he expected that she thought of the answer all the time. Now it seems like she has not understood Ango's question at all. 

'She's artificial after all.', Dazai whispers to Fukuzawa as an explanation. 'She's not human so she's a little...slow to understand. We're sorry.'

'Don't worry.', Fukuzawa waves the apology away. 'I'm free today.'

Ango speaks some foreign words to her, and then she nods. '|Ah, yes. I understand now.|', she speaks. '|I have not heard of anything like it. I am only one rumor. I haven't ventured beyond the field.|'

'Then that's clear.', Odasaku shrugs, holding xir hands up. 'You are the physical manifestation of the Buraiha's bond, so if rumors are used like this, it may be dangerous not only for you but also for us.'

'I don't know about the creatures you mention.', Ango closes his eyes. 'But Sakurako has to be protected from them.'

'I see. If she is made a slave to those creatures, you three are too. We don't want that to happen.', Fukuzawa concludes. 'I don't doubt that the appearance of the creature and the rumors is one thing, not two.'

'But Sakurako can't fight.', Ango warns. 'Dazai specifically designed the rumor to be in a state of peace.'

'Then that's a problem.', Dazai moves his hand to his chin. 'I have no idea who is behind it, but we have to protect Sakurako in a way, and this rumor. We can't just take her somewhere else.'

'She's directly tied to us.', Odasaku starts thinking of a solution. 'If this place gets hurt, or worse, if she is hurt...'

'I got it.'

Ango suddenly slams his fist on his flat hand, and then moves it to place it over his heart. 'Remember that time Tanizaki was fused with the Chelation Mascot?'

'Oh no...' Fukuzawa doesn't want this conversation to go to where he thinks it is going.

'All too well...', Dazai remembers the strain of that battle. 'And don't tell me you're...'

'You read my mind.', Ango gives him a faint smile. 'I am going to fuse with Sakurako. That way, I will protect my creation.'

'But...you won't get corrupted, right?' Fukuzawa recalls the state of Tanizaki, perpetually spaced out as some backstreet junkie. 

'I won't.', Ango says resolute as he moves to the confused Sakurako. 'She is a benign rumor. Originally, I did not design the rumors to be hostile, in fact. The parts that made them hostile were because the Rats twisted the lore I so carefully prepared for Odasaku to use.'

'He's right, we did.', Odasaku averts xir eyes to look at the ground at the mention of the Rats. 'That was bad. But this, this should be safe.'

'But your mind, it will be...a little on the slow side, like she is now? Will you still be able to do your work for the Government?'

'Maybe. It's going to be a mix between us. Likely around 75% me and 25% her.', Ango shrugs. 'I don't know what you would call me, then. I...kinda feel how you felt back then, Odasaku, haha...'

'Don't mention it. You'll still be you.' Dazai assures him. 

'Everyone agrees, then?' Ango is about to turn around to fuse with Sakurako. 

'We agree.', Odasaku says. 'Me and her.'

'I guess I have to.', Fukuzawa knows that there is no other way Sakurako can be saved than this. 'And you have to.'

Ango looks back at Odasaku, Dazai and Fukuzawa one last time in this form. 

'See you soon.' he says, before firmly holding Sakurako's wrist. As he does so, all memories of her creation come flowing back to him. He knows all of them by heart, and that he will never forget them. Sakurako suddenly seems to know what is happening and grabs Ango's other hand. 

The light blinds Odasaku, Dazai and Fukuzawa, who cannot see what is happening now. And then...

'Ah...'

As the light dies down, only Ango is in front of them, lying on the grass. 'Ango!' Dazai is the first who wants to know if he is okay, followed by Odasaku. 

'You...we...we think you may have succeeded?', Odasaku says upon seeing Ango's new clothes. His Soul Gem is still in his - white - hair, but the Gem is now pink with a sakura-shaped decoration. He is wearing a pink kimono with light blue and white accents. 'At least...'

'I...did?', The first thing Ango does is stand up and grab his head. 'Oh, wait...', He immediately notices that his mind is a little different than before. 'I fee|...a |ittle strange...'

'That must mean that you and Sakurako are now one.', Fukuzawa draws the situation to its logical conclusion. 'Congratulations.'

'What will the Government say...huh.' Dazai realizes that he just started to think about the consequences now. 

'Doesn't matter.', Ango says to everyone's surprise. 'I'm not human, but I haven't ever been that since the contract. So what's the difference?'

'That apathy, that must be the rumor talking.', Fukuzawa crosses his arms while shaking his head. 'The government, huh...'

'The rumors were there.', Ango remembers. 'So someone must have been using them behind my back. Maybe there is a traitor at the Government or someone contro||ing it from the outside. We have to discover that.'

'I'll talk to Taneda as soon as possible.', Fukuzawa promises him. 'This case is growing stranger by the minute. What is going to happen to this place?'

'Oh, this place isn't going anywhere.', Ango points to the gigantic Sakura tree behind him. 'When I go away it wi|| be temporari|y invisib|e. I carry it with me as it were.' 

'Probably for the better...' Dazai looks away. 

'So...', Odasaku draws out that syllable. 'We guess we could call you now...Sakurango? Or something? Do you want to be called differently?'

Ango laughs. 'Ahaha, didn't think of it myse|f.', he says. 'I'|| |et you know.' He winks. 'A|so, that is a good pun.'

* * *

At the mafia headquarters, Mori is looking out of the window of his penthouse. 'Is it just me, or did that giant Sakura tree up that hill suddenly lose its glow?' he mumbles. 

Chuuya is standing behind him. 'I don't know what you are talking about.'

Mori points. 'Look, Chuuya.', he says. 'That tree. You know it, right? That's right, you do. That tree, I suspect it is special. Sakura's supposed to last short, but ever since we've defeated the Rats it's been in full bloom like this.'

'It's spring.', Chuuya starts walking around. 'The tree will be done blossoming soon.'

'Were it not for the fact that we defeated the Rats in autumn.', Mori says those last two words through clenched teeth. 'That should be more than enough reasons for me to think something's up with that tree, shouldn't it?'

'Whatever.' Chuuya shrugs. _Does that mean what I think it means_ , goes through their head. 

* * *

At another side of Yokohama, a man and a young woman are roaming the backstreets.

'What are you thinking of, Louisa?'

'N-nothing...', Louisa speaks. 'I'm still happy that you are back, mister Fitzgerald...I thought you disappeared forever...'

The man who is apparently named Fitzgerald, a sapphire-eyed Puer Magi in a green costume, stands out with his western appearance. 'Ah, don't mention it. It's nothing. We only need to find the rest of the former Guild.'

'Which should be...', Louisa counts them on her fingers. 'Nate, Lucy, Mark, Margaret...'

'And Poe.', He looks up when thinking of everyone. 'It's going to be a long ride ahead.'

'Yokohama is big. Where could we find them? And if we find them, do they even want to reunite with us?'

'That's for later. The first thing we have to do is to get into the circle of contracted here. Do you have any strategies for that?'

'I could make some. But then I need to be alone.'

'I know that.', he nods. 'And-'

He cannot finish his sentence as something hits him. 'Hey!' 

Three Puer Magi block their path. One of them is the blue onmyouji from the bar. The second one has short black hair and wears a purple with white king's costume. The last one has long, two-tone hair and has an empty expression in his eyes.

'Who are you?' Louisa immediately hides behind the man, knowing that she cannot fight.

'What do you want?', he asks bravely. 'Have you come to make an offer?'

'I am Kyougoku Natsuhiko.', the blue onmyouji speaks up. 'And we don't like strangers.'

'And my name is Fyodor Dostoevsky.'

'What a hypocrite you are.', Fitzgerald laughs. 'You don't sound Japanese either, with a name like that and a Russian accent.'

Kyougoku sees how Louisa is quivering behind him. 'Don't worry, young lady.', he says. 'We're not going to hurt you.' Louisa is clearly not convinced as she keeps shaking.

Just as Fitzgerald wants to react, Fyodor touches the Soul Gem of their yet unnamed third member. Like back then, it rapidly darkens and he falls unconscious as something escapes from the blood in his throat.

As Louisa and Fitzgerald look at it in fear, Fyodor smiles. 'Hm-hm, so cute, isn't it? Way better than that of me.'

* * *

A moment later, the two foreign contracted have disappeared from the backstreet. The third member whose Doppel was used still sports the same stoic expression as before. 'Things are changing.', Fyodor sighs. 'We are changing.'

'It's time to shake up this town a bit.', Kyougoku smirks. 'With this, we're going to have Yokohama's magic circle under our control in no time. With the Guild stragglers too, we're making progress.', He fully knows that this will be a rocky road anyway. 'If we tell them we have their former leader and strategist...'

'That's going to be a fun show.', Fyodor makes a small comparison. 'Be sure to get me some popcorn first.'

'Roger that.', Understanding what the popcorn refers to, Kyougoku makes a mental note of it.

'I'll make sure that they'll know sooner or later, don't you worry.', Fyodor has started to head back. 'When the time is there.'

Suddenly, the silent third member speaks in a small voice: 'Master, can I-'

But his first words are cut short by Fyodor hitting him, and the rest of his intended sentence devolves into a yelp resembling a puppy's. 'No, Sigma, you can't change back yet. Also, where in the world did you get the idea that you could speak?'

He doesn't say anything back as he averts his eyes, looking at the ground. 'Back to business.', Fyodor acts as if that didn't happen. 'Let's get going. Kyougoku, you do what you have to do. We will just return to base.'

'Good. I'll be on my way then, too.' Kyougoku says as he jumps away, using the roof as a handy tool to earn him a bird's eye view. Fyodor waves him goodbye as he moves in the opposite direction.


	4. Chapter 4

'I wonder what the entire ordeal was about yesterday...'

Atsushi and Kyouka are on their free day, and Atsushi has decided to take her on a tour through the city. 'Yeah. Ranpo's on it, currently.', Kyouka points out. 'And-'

She doesn't finish her sentence as she accidentally bumps into someone. 'Ah!'

'Kyouka?'

'I'm okay...' Kyouka looks up to see who she bumped into - a man with two-tone hair and dull grey eyes. The man next to him speaks to him with a strict voice: 'Sigma, didn't I tell you to watch out!' Kyouka can't see who that man is, because he is not turned towards her and Atsushi.

'I-I'm sorry...' the man stutters.

'Sorry for what?' The other man still has the same strict tone.

'I'm sorry for bumping into you...I won't do it again...'

Atsushi shares a quick look with Kyouka, one full of confusion, as she stands up and moves on. The other man does too and they walk past. 

'What in the everloving...did just happen?'

'I don't know either.', Kyouka shrugs. 'But when we accidentally collided, something else happened.' She holds up her index finger. 

'Oh?' Atsushi's confusion now makes place for surprise. 

'When we touched, new information entered my mind.', she explains while wiping some dust off her kimono. 'Something I did not know before. Like...it was more of a vision.'

'What kind of vision? Can you tell me?' Atsushi is very eager to know if it has to do with the strange man.

'I saw him there too.', Kyouka clears her throat. 'And two others surrounding him. One of them was the man next to him, the other, I did not recognize. He did not look happy.'

'Strange.', Atsushi brings his hand to his chin in thought. 'Why would you get that vision?'

Kyouka breathes in and out. 'Well...I have to admit it was something I wanted to know. I wonder if he got a vision in exchange.'

'That man must be a Puer Magi, then.', Atsushi concludes. 'However, that only solves part of the puzzle. It's like...the first edge piece.'

'Still. That man...I believe his name is Sigma, and-' 

'Yeah, what kind of name is that, anyway? It sounds more like...'

'More like a witch name, yeah.', Kyouka nods. 'It's a clue either way. But that's not what I wanted to say. In his eyes...I saw something of me.'

'What do you-ohh, I get it.', The initially confused Atsushi suddenly gets what she means. When he first described Kyouka to Dazai, he said that she 'had these dull blue eyes'. 'That man had the same dullness to his eyes as you had before you joined us.'

'Exactly.', Kyouka points at Atsushi. 'I wanted to know where that dullness came from.' 

'We have to tell Dazai about this.', Atsushi decides that it is better if the entire Agency knows this. 'Then we can decide what to do.'

* * *

At another part of Yokohama...

'I have no idea what to focus on!', Chuuya shouts. 'Please give me a target or I will rain bullets again!'

'That second thing!', Kouyou looks at Chuuya, who has a larger view of the situation due to using their gravity powers on themselves. 'Let's bring the rain! Get ready!' Kouyou prepares Golden Demon and steps back.

In front of them is a giant creature of the same size as the one the Agency fought against before. Mori, Kouyou and Chuuya were on their way to the meeting room, until they found something else there. 

'Got it!' Mori shares a quick glance with her before focusing again, as Chuuya jumps up and sends dozens, or maybe even hundreds of bullets towards it.

'Dammit!', Chuuya sees that it is tougher than they thought. 'Seems like the rumor sipped a lot of my energy already!'

'Same here!', Mori feels that Elise is not as effective as she was before. 'I feel like I have to...'

Kouyou knows what that means and is about to toss him a Grief Seed. However, Mori keeps her from and points up towards Chuuya.

'Don't!'   
  
With that sudden cry, Kouyou knows what he means. She throws it towards Chuuya instead, who quickly nods it as a 'thank you' and catches it with their gravity. They then hear something blowing up, and flinch before seeing that Mori has summoned his Doppel. Kouyou cracks a grin. 

'Look at that. With that thing, we've already won. Watch, Chuuya.'

In a few seconds, the huge creature is destroyed, and the distorted space turns back into reality again. 'Oof. That was close. Thank you, godfather.' Kouyou thanks her superior. 

'Well...', Mori only looks at Chuuya. 'It's more important that your Doppel doesn't come out than it is for mine, to be completely honest.' 

'You're saying that, but I can see that you don't like it either.'

Kouyou opens her mouth to berate Chuuya for saying such a thing, but before a word can come out, Mori speaks up again.

'That is true. You're right. Let's stop dwindling and get to the meeting.'

Chuuya and Kouyou follow him towards their original goal, until Chuuya sees something. 'What's that around your wrist, godfather?'

Surprised by this sudden discovering, Mori looks at his right wrist. 'Oh, hey. That strange bracelet wasn't there before.' Around his wrist is a similar bracelet as Kenji had, except one of the glyphs is inlaid with a ruby instead of a sapphire.

'So it's connected to that thing back there. Right.' Kouyou quickly makes a conclusion. 

'Probably...?', Mori shrugs, while he tries to take it off. 'I can't take it off, so...'

'Then you should keep it on.', Kouyou points at it with her hand. 'We have to keep track of it for sure.'

* * *

At the same time, the door of the Agency office swings open. 

'Ah!'

Everyone stops with their work as they see that Poe and Ayatsuji are there. 

'You okay?', Atsushi rushes towards them. 'What happened?'

'Well...' Poe breathes in and out slowly, then tries to focus on an explanation. But as his eyes scan the Agency, he suddenly flinches. He then points at Odasaku: 'Demoness!'

'I...I...I'm not the-' Odasaku realizes that Poe wasn't there at the final battle at Fendthope and also wasn't present at the party, and still doesn't know about the recent happenstances. 

But Dazai is on it. 'Calm down, Odasaku, I'll handle this.', he says as he strides in Poe's direction, whose fear only increases. 'I don't know who you are confusing Odasaku with, but I do know xe has nothing to do with whoever you think of.'

'Uh...okay...?' Poe hides his face in his hands and lets Ayatsuji speak up. 

'What we came here for, is not that, though.', he says. 'I'm sorry for that.'

'N-no, it doesn't matter...', Odasaku still has trouble forming words. 'Go on.'

'Poe's circle got a visit from an old enemy.', Ayatsuji acts as if nothing happened. 'And with 'Poe's circle', I mean a group of contracted consisting of Hawthorne, Mitchell, Twain and Montgomery.' 

Kenji gasps. 'They helped us at Fendthope!' he says, and Yosano nods. 

'They said that they had the leader and their strategist of their old organisation in their hands. If they want them back, they will have to meet consequences.'

'Leader...?' Kyouka frowns. 

'That reminds me. Lucy said back then that she used to be a member of an organisation that went the way of the dodo because their leader went missing. But they came back into this city and got captured?' Atsushi wonders as he makes possible scenarios in his head.

'That is correct.', Ayatsuji speaks. 'He came back in town because his trusted strategist finally traced him down.'

'You mentioned consequences. Which ones?' Kunikida scribbles something on a paper. 

'They didn't go into detail which ones exactly.', Ayatsuji says, and clears his throat. 'But don't expect anything good.'

'Hmm.', Dazai moves his hand to his chin, realizing that that trail is a dead one for now. 'Do we know who?'

Ayatsuji pauses as he grabs a photo out of his pocket and shows it to the Agency. 'A certain Fyodor Dostoevsky and his servant Sigma. I think you've heard of them before?'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus:
> 
> Doppel of condescence. Its form is a robe. The master of this emotion is anxious about the nature and implications of its existence. It has very high, arbitrary standards of order, bordering on tyranny. However, who dares to look closer, can very clearly see the vulnerable core that is hidden motionless in it. This core has almost fused with its master, who is powerless to stop its violent outside. Due to this, if its master continues to use it, he may be unable to stand the slightest amount of disorder in his life.


	5. Chapter 5

After the first shock wore off, Fukuzawa went along with Ayatsuji and Poe to the temporary base where they were holding up. The rest of the Agency went to process this important information.

'Do you think that the man who spoke to him was Fyodor?' Atsushi asks while Kyouka writes the newly acquired information down. 

'That is very likely, yeah. I didn't recognize his voice...shows how long ago it is since we fought the Rats.' Kyouka nods once and continues writing. But...

'Ah, my pen's empty. Do you have one for me?' She frantically scratches the pen over the notepad, but no ink comes out. 

'Uh...' Atsushi rummages through his drawer. 'Uhhh...' On that cue, Kyouka also opens her drawer to search for a pen. 

'Let's see...Hmm, gotta clean it out sometime later...' Her hands go through the drawer, but suddenly come to a stop once they touch something that's definately not a pen. 

'Hey.' Kyouka loses all interest in finding a pen and grabs something out of the drawer she wasn't even looking for.

Atsushi stops rummaging and looks up. 'What's that? Let me see.'

Kyouka shows it to him. 'A charm, or something like that. It was in my drawer, so it must be mine. Still, I have no idea where it is from...'

'Hmm.', Atsushi mumbles. 'It looks like half of a six-pointed star. You see the straight edge?'

'Yeah. And there's letters on it too.' Kyouka points to the square letter beads on it, and Atsushi leans to read them.

'S-E-Y.', he manages to make out. 'Funny, that's the opposite of 'yes'. But I wonder if that's the reason.' 

Kyouka squints. 'You know those BFF-necklaces?'

'Yeah, if you put them together, they're a heart. The entire point is that you give one to your best friend and you keep one for yourself.' 

'Exactly.', Kyouka points at it. 'I get the faint idea that I was the one who made this in the first place. I don't remember getting it, but I don't remember who I made it for either.'

'If that's the case, 'Sey' must be a person.', Atsushi deduces smartly. 'Still. What name is that?'

'Maybe it's not a person's full name.', Kyouka wonders, and idly thinks that this conversation is starting to be grasping at straws. 'But a nickname of sorts.'

'Sey...', Kyouka repeats the name in her mind. 'Sey, Sey...' Suddenly, she gasps as she sees something in front of her - a man standing in front of her, with his hand stretched out towards her.

'What?' Atsushi brings her back to reality.

'N-nothing...' _Must be a memory_.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dazai tries to comfort Odasaku a bit in their room.

'You alright?' he asks. 

'I-I guess...' Although Odasaku says that xe can handle it, xir eyes are still fixed at the ground. 

'Hey, you couldn't do anything at the fact that Poe remembers you wrong.', Dazai pats Odasaku on the back. 'He wasn't there at Fendthope and likely had limited information based on what he heard from Twain.'

'I get that, but...', Odasaku finally lifts xir head to look at Dazai. 'It's just deadnaming...' Then, xe takes a deep breath. 'She isn't me!'

'We know you are not her. I'm sure Poe won't try that again, knowing his personality.' Dazai considers.

'I...I...', Tears prick in Odasaku's eyes and fall on the ground as xe doesn't try to keep them from falling. 'I am just trying to start my life properly without being reminded of _her_! I can't do anything without people saying I'm _her_!' Xe spits those last words out like dirt. Dazai carefully wipes away Odasaku's tears and decides not to say anything as xe continues.

'It's been so long and they still say I look like _her_! I've been doing everything to accept life as it is now, to accept _her_ by acknowledging I'm not alone, that...that how it was four years ago i-isn't going to come back, and...'

Odasaku doesn't have the strength to rant on anymore, and Dazai has pulled xir into his embrace. 'I'm here. You can cry. Everything she did, all harsh things she told us, they were like that because she is mad at everything she can't get. It's childish, in a way. That is why she isn't you, and she never _will_ be you.'

* * *

Not long after, Fukuzawa returns. 

'Fukuzawa! Did you get any wiser at the meeting?' Kunikida gets straight to the point. 

'Yes, in fact.', Fukuzawa says as he sits down. He hears that the door is opened again as Dazai and Odasaku enter the office. After they both find their place again, he speaks up. 

'Two things. The first one is that they know more about the thing we fought back there. That huge monster Kenji defeated is called an Emotion. Just as simple as that. There are more of them, I saw Twain with a bracelet too, and he has been keeping track of them since then. He said that someone from the Hunting Dogs has taken down one too. He mentioned someone from the mafia being in possession of another bracelet. Since there are eight glyphs, we can safely assume there are eight of them, four of which are defeated now.'

'That's surprising.', Kenji nods. Unconsciously, his hand goes over his own bracelet. 'Did that one sprout a rumor too?'

'Twain told me it did.', Fukuzawa closes his eyes. 'We can assume it is a defense mechanism of sorts.'

'So do they have any idea as to where they come from?' Tanizaki asks.

'Unfortunately not.', The Adjuster sighs and shakes his head. 'They assume a link to the Government as well. Ango is currently searching for answers there.'

'The Government has done a lot of shady stuff. Kinda strange that one of the Hunting Dogs fought one, since they're part of the Government.', Dazai thinks out loud. 'But why would the Government do this in the first place?'

'They have no idea as to that either.', Fukuzawa points at Dazai. 'Furthermore, the threat. We have some hints as to where they are keeping Fitzgerald and Louisa hostage.'

'Fitzgerald?', Atsushi frowns. 'I remember Louisa. She was the girl who was attacked by the mafia.'

'Yeah, that's true. Fitzgerald is the name of the leader. All we know is that they are not kept somewhere on this...earthly plane.'

'This earthly plane? I'm sorry, but you have to explain that to me.' Tanizaki scratches the back of his head in confusion.

'Not in the visible buildings.', Fukuzawa remains calm. 'In a barrier or a pocket dimension of other kinds.' 

'So we have to go search through all barriers if they're there? That'll be a hassle.' Atsushi gets very uncomfortable. 

'That wouldn't be very handy to keep track of, knowing Fyodor.', He holds up a hand. 'I wouldn't be surprised if that 'servant' of his, Sigma, is somehow linked to it.'

'Did they tell you the consequences?'

'At least part of it will be a sum of money.', Fukuzawa counts on his fingers. 'Which they would give. Another is, that they will have to switch sides to Fyodor's allegiance. Understandably, they have trouble with the second part.'

'But what is the entire point of freeing the leader and the strategist, then?' That is something Yosano doesn't get.

Fukuzawa wants to speak up, but Dazai beats him to it. 'I get it. This way, he is challenging them to a fight and getting both sides out of the way. With the rest of the former Guild, that is, Poe, Hawthorne, Mitchell, Mark and Lucy on his side, he is sure to win from Fitzgerald and the unoffensive Louisa. And he has a lot of servants to enact his further plans.'

An awkward silence falls over the Agency. A good five seconds later, Tanizaki breaks it. 

'...damn.'

* * *

Somewhere else...

'Gone?' 

Kyougoku is shouting over the phone. At the other side is Santouka Taneda. 'What do you mean, half of the Emotions are gone?'

'Exactly that.', Taneda remains calm. 'Four out of the eight Emotions you made us create, are nowhere to be found.' 

'God damn.' Without even saying 'see you later', Kyougoku ends the call. 

'That isn't ideal.', Fyodor says flatly. He is sitting at his desk, and Sigma is next to him. 'But remember that they're just tools for you to make stuff easier.'

'Yeah, yeah, but...', The blue onmyouji shrugs and tilts his head in sarcasm. 'If they all die, I have no choice but to lift the ransomware from the Government's archive. I don't want that to happen.'

'I get why you're doing that.', Fyodor readjusts his position in his chair. 'You don't want _her_ to know what happened all those years ago, do you?'

Instead of replying, Kyougoku sighs. After a few seconds, he speaks up. '...do you have this with everyone you work with?'

'What?'

'Oh, come on, you know what I mean. You liked to taunt Caecilia too, didn't you?'

'What if I did?'

'Then...', He sighs for the second time, then decides to throw this towards a different direction. 'Give me one reason why I should work with you, again.'

While their conversation heats up more and more, Sigma averts his eyes from them. _If I only could remember what home felt like_ , he thinks. _Because this sure isn't it_.


	6. Chapter 6

'Taneda!', Ango enters the office of the official, having heard everything. 'So it is in the Government after a||! Using _my_ rumors, how cou|d you?'

Taneda looks up, but shows no sign of surprise. 'I'm ever so sorry, Ango.', he says. 'But do you realize what would happen if we didn't?'

'Doesn't matter!', Ango is overtaken by the impulsivity of the rumor fused with him. 'They are _my_ property! |ike you see, I had to fuse with Sakurako in order for us not to get corrupted!'

'Ango.', Taneda stands up and crosses his arms. He looks Ango in his pink eyes. 'Do you even know who is forcing us to create the Emotions?'

Since he doesn't have the answer, he bites his lip and refrains from talking.

'Sit down.', he orders Ango with slight persuasion in his voice, who does so. Then, he opens his fan to prevent anyone reading his words. 'I bet you haven't heard of a certain Kyougoku Natsuhiko.'

'I...don't. She a|so doesn't.' Ango thinks out loud, referring to Sakurako in the process. 

'An old enemy of Ayatsuji. At least, at first.', Taneda holds up the index finger of his other hand. 'He has put ransomware on our digital archive. In this time and age, more and more of our physical archive is being moved and stashed on microchips and the like. The reason why you haven't noticed much of it yet, is because we have the key.'

'Key...'

'Every type of ransomware needs a key.', Taneda explains. 'In normal ransomware, you need to pay for the key. But Kyougoku has given us the key, so we can access it for now. However, if for some reason, the Emotions were to die or we would stop the process, he will change the key needed.'

'Oh.', Ango starts to understand it. 'But why does he do such a thing?'

'There is a certain file of an incident we think he is involved in. It was never confirmed, but we suspect it.', Taneda clears his throat. 'We can access all files, except for that one.'

'But what makes him dangerous?' The rumor part of him was kind of slow to understand.

'If we don't comply...', The official pauses. 'He can possess people by the use of a Witch Kiss. If he were to...'

'Stop, stop, I understand.' Ango leans back and holds up his hands to halt the explanation. 'You mentioned four out of eight. That means that...'

'We're already done creating.'

Ango doesn't say anything back. He stands up, stares into Taneda's eyes, and then turns around and leaves the office with a firm pace.

* * *

Meanwhile, Odasaku and Dazai are hunting together again. 

'They won't bite today. A shame.', Dazai sighs. They have been walking around for about five minutes, and haven't found any witches. 'I'm starting to regret this.'

'We've had longer waiting times, so to say.', Odasaku shrugs. 'And-' Suddenly, the words of the red seer stop.

'What's the matter?'

'Look at this.', Odasaku points at a flurry of sakura petals on the ground. 'Sakura trees aren't in bloom.' 

Dazai frowns and kneels down to pick a petal up. 'Hmm. This isn't synthetic. Why would this be here...unless...!' His eyes go bright as he feels something, and Odasaku immediately gets what he means when he looks at xir. 

'Ango. That is his trail, isn't it?'

'It is.' At that cue, Odasaku follows Dazai, who tracks the trail down by using the sakura petal. 

Not long after, the trail ends in an empty warehouse. Well, it is not entirely empty...

'Ango!'

'Look at that. Those pushovers must be your 'friends'.' 

A gang consisting of twenty people or so is standing around Ango. They have bound his hands together and, much like Naomi before, there is a handkerchief around his mouth. 

'Let him go!' Dazai transforms, and Odasaku does too. 

'Oh, magical boys. Look how scared we are.' One of them jabs at them as several of them transform themselves. Although he is in a perilous situation, Ango does not look like he is in distress at all. Dazai, however, is entirely ready to fight and fires the first shot. And soon, he and Odasaku are caught in a battle of magic forces. 

'We hate to do this.' Odasaku growls. 'But we need to.'

'Do it.' Dazai's answer is succinct enough for Odasaku to work with. Then, Odasaku folds xir hands as if in prayer and closes xir eyes. Then, xe says:

'Fear not.'

It does not even take three seconds after those words are uttered for the change to set in. Odasaku's Soul Gem changes into a third eye, and familiar golden wings with red eyes appear. 

'Wha-'

The enemies do not have the chance to say anything, as the sight is enough to overwhelm them. 

'It's been so long!' Odasaku's eyes are still closed, but can still see everything perfectly. However, it isn't entirely Odasaku anymore - so much can Dazai see at 'Odasaku' and the way of fighting. 

'Caecilia?'

'That's right! Now, Shuuji, let's get out of here!' 

* * *

Thanks to her help, Dazai quickly frees Ango. 

'...ah. You came. Thank you...' is the first thing he says. 

'You're welcome. And our friendship is in your hands.', Dazai admits that it was important. He turns to look at Caecilia. 'Do you have anything to say before I nullify you?'

'You're...?' Ango is very confused as how that happened. Dazai gives him a look of 'I'll explain later'.

'Well.', she speaks. 'Actually...Shuuji, I've heard what you told the body. And I hate to say it, but you're right, you know. You're god damn right on the money. I'm so angry because I never get what I want. And ever since having this body...I'm a genderless being with she/her pronouns stuck in a male body. Sometimes, I just wonder if anything can go right.'

'I feel like Odasaku is going to be very exhausted now.', Dazai moves his hand towards Caecilia's shoulder. 'Time for you to go dormant again.'

'It was good to be awake again, not going to lie.'

Then, Dazai nullifies her, and Odasaku returns in civilian clothes. 

'How did you even get kidnapped like this?' Dazai hops to a different topic. 

'Abducted. Children are kidnapped.' Ango crosses his arms. 

'Not the point.', Dazai sighs. 'It means that there are people knowing how important you are now.'

'Honest|y, I don't even know how. Turns out that word spreads faster here than I remember. Man, I fee| o|d.' Ango grabs his head.

'Doesn't matter now.', Dazai shrugs and points at the battlefield where only they are standing. 'It's over.'

Although Ango knows that Dazai wanted to explain it later to him, he can't resist the urge to ask. 'And...Odasaku, about what you did back there...?'

'That...', Odasaku's eyes immediately avert again. 'I...I kinda...let her out? Because, because, you were in danger...?'

'|_et her out...how?'

'I, I don't know!', Suddenly, Odasaku raises xir voice. 'It sort of happened?'

'I don't know how it happened either.', Dazai stands up, and the other two follow. 'But I think that from time to time, when I am with you, it is good. To let her out, I mean.'

Ango clears his throat as they walk out of the warehouse. 'Do you mind if I wa|k you back to the Agency bui|ding? I've got some stuff to share, and it's pretty important.'

'Of course, you can.' Dazai doesn't doubt that decision a second. 

* * *

'What?'

'I'm sorry, but it's true. The Government has been doing this for god knows how |ong.' Ango shrugs once he has informed the Agency about everything he has come to know.

'That is certainly disconcerting.', Fukuzawa closes his eyes. 'Ransomware, huh...' Then, something dawns in him. 'Say, Ango, exactly which file is locked to you?'

'Haven't bothered yet to check out, but it's not too |ate for that.', Ango grabs his tablet and immediately opens the archive as Fukuzawa takes a look too. 'Everything's seeming|y norma| yet...'

Behind them, the Agency won't keep silent. 

'Have you heard of him?'

'No, you?'

'Is it true that...'

Fukuzawa looks up. 'Silence!' he shouts. They follow it immediately.

Not long after, Ango finds the file. 'Bingo.', he says. 'Hmm. This is the case of the incident that |ed to the deaths of Nakata Suzu and Izumi Seiji.'

Those names do not seem to ring a bell by anyone except for Kyouka. '...my mother and my father!'


	7. Chapter 7

'Your...parents?' Atsushi gasps and looks at Kyouka.

'Y-yes...', She clears her throat before going on. 'They died when I was 9.'

'I'm so sorry for your |oss.', Ango closes his eyes. 'I tru|y am.'

Kyouka shrugs, and Kenji speaks up. 'But wait.', he says. 'Why should there be a Government file about that?'

'They...did not die under normal circumstances.', Kyouka holds up her hand. 'Have I ever told you guys about my contracting?'

The Agency fell silent when they think at all of their individual interactions with Kyouka. Then...

'I don't think so.' Atsushi says.

'I haven't. Okay...', She breathes in and out. 'One day, when I was playing outside...something happened to my parents. That certain day, they were acting off, until I saw...' She brings her hand to her neck. '...a Witch Kiss.'

'They were killed by a witch?' Fukuzawa starts to get the bigger picture.

'N-no, but...', Kyouka quickly disproves that theory. 'They were truly out of their minds. They closed in on me and I saw that murderous look in their eyes I would see many, many times later. Then, the incubator showed up and I practically begged it, said that I didn't want to die. I've got no idea how I knew that incubators fulfill wishes but that was not the matter. And then...', She gestures above her. '...Demon Snow came.'

'Hmm. We think we can connect those dots on our own.', Odasaku wants to keep Kyouka from recalling the details and decides to hop topic. 'Were they nice parents before they died?'

Kyouka looks at xir with bright eyes in silence. The Agency is expecting an answer, but...

'I-I...don't remember...' The hand she holds up starts to shake.

'Your parents died when you were 9, right? Then, you must have some memories of them.', Ranpo reasons. 'I personally do.'

'No, I don't.', Kyouka realizes that there is _something_ wrong with her memory. 'Wait.' Suddenly, she stands up and runs towards her desk, the people across her path looking up in confusion. Not long after, she returns to where the others are, with the charm in her hand. 

'This thing.', she says loudly as she points at it. 'It was in my drawer, so it must be mine. When I found it, I got the faint idea that it must have been something I made. If I made it from before the incident...'

Ango suddenly speaks. 'Then you may have |ost more than just the memory of your |iving parents.', he reasons as he walks towards Kyouka. 'Maybe the memory of the creation of that thing is sti|| there. Do you mind if I work my magic on it as to take a |ook?'

'Please do.' He does not have to say that twice, and touches the charm. And, not long after...

'...hmm...' 

It lasts about five seconds before Ango lets go of it and gives it back to Kyouka. 'The memory's in there. But it's fragmented, and that initia||y took me by surprise. Did you remember anything when you first discovered it?'

Kyouka shares a glance with Atsushi, who shakes his head once. She sighs, and tells the truth.

'And you did not recognize that man?'

'I didn't.', Kyouka shrugs. 'Otherwise I would have...hhh!' She suddenly gasps. 

'What's wrong?' Atsushi is the first to ask.

'N-nothing, but...I just may have gotten an idea as to who that man is...'

'How do you mean?'

'Atsushi, you remember the previous time I got a vision, right? It was when I accidentally touched Sigma, you know, that man with the dead eyes.'

Atsushi wants to ask her something again as something clicks in him too. '...so, could he be it?'

'I'm almost sure it is, but...', Kyouka frowns. 'What connection would I have to Sigma?'

* * *

At the same time, the sun slowly sets over Yokohama, shrouding the city in darkness. 'It's getting late.', Fyodor remarks. 'I should call Kyougoku. It's been some time ago since I last heard of him.'

With that, he taps 'call', but not long after, he ends it. 

'Voicemail. Guess he's still busy...' he sighs as he turns around to receive his tea from Sigma. 

But suddenly...

'Ah!'

As if stung by a bee, Sigma drops the cup of tea, shattering pieces of fine china all over the ground. 

'Sigma?', Fyodor immediately stands up. 'Didn't I tell you to be more careful?'

Sigma nods, and instinctively kneels down to pick up the pieces. 

'But there's nothing around here that could make you stumble.', Fyodor now notices that Sigma may not have dropped the cup of tea out of sheer clumsiness. 'What shook you up?'

He sees that as being allowed to talk, and then answers: 'I...I remembered something.'

'What did you remember?' Fyodor manages to keep his expression calm, although he hears his internal screaming loud and clear. 

'It was quite vivid. I saw myself sitting in a garden with a little girl. That's all...'

'It is strange that you remember that.', Fyodor says with false confusion. 'Because you've been here by my side all your life.'

'I'm doubting that...master, it is true that you have taken care of me my entire life, but...'

'But what?' Fyodor crosses his arms.

'I get the feeling that I had a life before that.'

Fyodor cracks a smile. 'You believe in reincarnation? Never would've taken you for the person to do that.'

'No, not like that...but...it confirms that you made me forget about things. This isn't the first time.' Sigma sighs.

Fyodor pauses and then apologizes. He knows that this is far from the first time things have been slipping through, and decides to admit that Sigma is right - or at least, make it seem so. 'I'm sorry if you feel hurt by anything I did.', he says. 'It was never my intention to hurt you.'

Sigma nods once. 'T-thank you, master...' He begrudgingly accepts the apology, but now knows that there are things withheld from him.

* * *

'Don't you think that this bracelet must mean something?'

The next day, Akutagawa is contemplating the newly formed bracelet around his wrist. Higuchi shrugs. 

'No idea. The only thing I know is that the godfather has a similar one.', she says. 'So...'

'Mori? Then I must go speak to him as soon as possible.'

'Won't do.', Higuchi shrugs. 'He's at a meeting.'

'Where? When will he come back?'

'Not anytime soon.' She shakes her head and feels her heart beating in her throat. _I'm lying about what our boss is doing again_. 

'Okay. So what should we-'

Akutagawa shuts up all by himself as he sees someone. 

'Whats-'

But he does not heed Higuchi's words and runs towards the person he just saw on the street. 

'You!' he yells as he impales the person's abdomen with his magic.

'The hell is...oh...' Higuchi's initial confusion dies down as she sees that they also have a bracelet. 

'That...really hurt.' However, they firmly grab the protusion and pull it out of their body with clenched teeth. 

'Ah...?', Akutagawa is very surprised by that. 'Who the hell are you?'

'M-Miyazawa...Kenji...' he says as he transforms. Akutagawa suddenly remembers who he is.

'Now I recognize you. You're from the Agency, aren't you?' 

Kenji does not answer, but nods instead. 

'How the hell did you get that bracelet?', Akutagawa asks. 'You're...'

'Same could I ask of you.', Kenji frowns. 'I'm surprised you got one.'

'Whatever the cause was, I need to have it.', he says. 'And I'm getting it now.' He prepares to fight. 

'But I can't-' Kenji wants to say that he can't take it off, but Akutagawa has already opened fire. At that cue, he grabs a random street lantern and rips it out of the ground. _I just hope this thing's steady enough_ , he thinks.

Higuchi has also transformed, forming two magical fighters against one. 

* * *

'Any last words?' 

Five minutes later, Kenji's body is littered with wounds. His breathing is ragged as he sees that Akutagawa is about to shatter his Soul Gem with his magic. 

'I...I...' As he is in the process of saying his last words, a strange surge of energy goes through him, emanating from the bracelet. It is strangely uplifting, and a smile forms on his face. The smile becomes a grin, which becomes a laugh.

'What's there to laugh at?' Akutagawa growls. 

'It's...it's...' Kenji can't explain his sudden outburst of joy.

Then, the sapphire shatters, and something appears. It is exactly the same Emotion that Kenji dealt the last blow to, unharmed.

'...the heck...' Higuchi mumbles, as she and Akutagawa look up at the thing in front of them.

'...is that? A Doppel or somethin'?'

However, Kenji is just as confused, as it fires its beams at Akutagawa and Higuchi. 'I did...?' 

'Let's get outta here!', Akutagawa shouts. 'Don't ask! Let's just go!'

Akutagawa pushes Higuchi away, who doesn't think twice. They run back to the mafia headquarters. 

'...thank you...' Kenji thanks the Emotion, although he has no idea if it is even sentient enough to understand it. He then collapses as it disappears again. Outside of his perception, the sapphire is as if nothing ever touched it.

* * *

'Kenji!' 

He wakes up to his name being called. 'I...' When he looks around, he sees that he is back in the Agency building again.

'Finally, you're awake. I healed you.', Yosano proudly says as she crosses her arms. 'After we found you, that is.'

'But...who found me?' He has an entire new experience, which he knows he has to tell later.

'Ranpo did.', the Puella Magi explains. 'He was talking me, Fukuzawa, Odasaku and Dazai about the influence of the Book on him. Apparently, Odasaku meant to talk to Fukuzawa for quite a while, but that's not the point here. We think that Ranpo may have gotten a further insight in...things.'

'Like Odasaku?'

'Kind of, but it is more of an extrasensory perception kind of thing. While we were talking like that, Ranpo suddenly saw you although he had no normal way of being able to.'

'Anyway...I'm happy I'm back.' Kenji breathes in deeply and sits right up. _Yosano really is an amazing healer_ , he thinks, as there are no signs of any wound or pain being inflicted on him.

'What the hell happened to you, though? Witch messed you up?', she asks. 'You got a lot of wounds. Broken bones, internal bleedings...don't even get me started, hah.'

'That...I'm still not quite knowing of it myself what exactly happened.', Kenji grabs his head. 'But Fukuzawa needs to know this.'

Yosano is taken aback by that sole advice. 'What? It must be important.'

'I'll tell it to you first, if you're okay with it.', Kenji says, and continues after Yosano nods. 'Akutagawa has also a bracelet. He saw me and that I had one too. He attempted to forcefully steal it. But...as you know, I can't take it off.', Yosano keeps nodding during the story. 

'I tried to make that clear, but it ended up in a fight with both Akutagawa and Higuchi. But two against one...isn't fair, even if both sides are magical. Not long after...he had me completely defeated and was about to slash my Soul Gem. But then, something happened.'

'Yeah, it must have.', Yosano understands that. 'Otherwise you wouldn't be alive here.'

'You know the feeling when someone anestizes you?', Kenji seeks a comparison. 'It was like that, starting from the bracelet. But instead of a cold feeling, it was like a surge of joy. I couldn't stop laughing, with the last power that was inside my body.'

'And then?' Yosano is immersed in Kenji's story with this turn.

'...the thing I defeated back then was there again.', Kenji gestures. 'And it didn't look hurt. Instead, it started attacking them. I saw them retreating before I thanked it and blacked out.' 

'And now you're here. Well, that certainly explains the state you were in.', Yosano shrugs. 'Also, the Emotion being there again...it may explain the sudden rush of joy. Remember, 'Emotion'?' She makes airquotes at that last word.

Kenji jumps off the hospital bed. 'Hmm.', he mumbles. 'Anyway, we need to make sure Fukuzawa knows.'


	8. Chapter 8

At the other side of Yokohama...

'Ah, Sigma...I was just wondering...?' Fyodor opens the bedroom door as he sees that Sigma is holding a book. Startled by the sudden noise, he looks up.

'What were you wondering about?' he asks, and Fyodor walks in. He sits down on the edge of the bed to talk to him. 

'Your memory.', Fyodor says as he holds up his hand. 'If it is resurfacing now...do you think it is important?'

'Well, otherwise, it wouldn't be resurfacing.' Sigma shrugs, fully believing that Fyodor has genuinely given up the masquerade.

'But...sometimes, you remember a detail of something you had forgotten about long ago, because back then, you didn't render it important.'

'That is true.', Sigma lays down his book as he knows that from how the conversation is going now, there isn't going to be much reading. 'You think that that happened?'

'Maybe? I can't see what you saw, so I can only guess.', Fyodor feigns the frustration at the unknown. 'Are you sure it isn't just a figment like that?'

'I saw it for about five seconds.', he tries to justify. 'But if I want to see it again, I can't, really.'

'If it was really a moment of your past life...', As Fyodor sets up the first part of his manipulation, he sees that Sigma is still listening to him attentively. At that sight, he can't help but feel a little bit satisfied. 'Then why didn't you...hear anything? At least, you didn't say you heard anything.'

'I didn't hear anything, yes.', Sigma grows confused all over again - which is exactly what Fyodor is aiming for. 'I only saw something.'

'The mind is a fickle thing.', Fyodor tilts his head. 'It can make us see things that were never real in the first place. Take for example dreams.'

'You think it was a daydream of sorts?'

Fyodor doesn't answer, only nodding once.

'Yeah, it could be.', Sigma considers, getting more and more convinced of a lack of a past life. 'And, I hate to tell you, but yes, I was a little lost in thought while preparing the tea. Hmm, the more I think about it now...the more I start to think that it was just a hallucination.'

Then, he looks into Fyodor's eyes. '...and there was no past life to begin with.'

'Indeed.', Fyodor clasps his hands. 'That's right.'

The rest of the conversation goes down into idle banter, and after some time, Fyodor leaves Sigma's bedroom.

'I...just don't know anymore.' Sigma sighs as he looks down at his dirty fuchsia Soul Gem.

* * *

'Very well...there is a lot to unpack here.' Fukuzawa says as Kenji is done telling his story at the briefing. He taps on the touchscreen behind him to show an intricate scheme of the glyphs on the bracelet, with arrows to a bagua scheme next to it.

'I'm building further on a theory I got from the Guild stragglers.', he explains. 'If you look closely, you see that each of them resembles a certain trigram from the bagua. You see, Kyougoku is a modern onmyouji, so this may be his 'signature' of sorts.', he pauses and makes airquotes.   
'Especially when considering that the glyphs on Kenji's bracelet are identical to those of Mark and Hawthorne's, meaning that they are one and the same except for that Mark's bracelet had an Aquamarine gem instead of a sapphire one.'

'But wait, wait, wait. Who of us all do have a bracelet now? I'm losing track.' Tanizaki stops Fukuzawa from talking on. 

'I thought of that.', He says as he points to a flipover with a table on it. 'Look at this. I've compiled a nice little table of contents as to who has a bracelet.'

Kenji - ☱  
Mori - ☷  
Mark - ☳  
Hawthorne - ☰  
Tecchou - ☶  
Akutagawa - ??????

'Mori has one? Why didn't we know of this before? And who's Tecchou?' Atsushi is a little surprised.

'Tecchou must be from the Hunting Dogs. And actually, we did know of Mori having one before.', Kunikida holds up his index finger. 'Fukuzawa told that Twain mentioned a member of the mafia.'

'But how do you know sure he meant Mori?', Kyouka frowns. 'It could have been Akutagawa, too.'

'Trust me...I know that Mori has one, I've seen it.', Fukuzawa says, closing his eyes. 'Moving on. As such, we can now conclude that there are still two more to be found.'

'On another topic, do we have any news from where Fyodor is keeping Fitzgerald and Louisa hostage?' Yosano asks as she holds up her hand. Fukuzawa wants to open his mouth, but before any words can come out, Kunikida speaks up.

'In fact, we do.' 

The rest falls silent. Some of them do so in a gasp. 

'...please tell us.' Fukuzawa almost whispers. 

'I asked Katai for all the camera footage from across Yokohama that was recorded prior to when Ayatsuji and Poe informed us of their abduction.', Kunikida says as he opens some things on his phone. 'But Yokohama is big and the timeslot is relatively vague, so it took very long. Just a few minutes ago, it should be when Kenji woke up, I got something interesting. I had to verify if it was real, but...here you go.'

With a few taps of his index finger, the footage appears on the touchscreen. Fukuzawa steps aside to offer them a better view. 

'You're right. That's Louisa, and that man must be Fitzgerald.', Atsushi mumbles. 'Hmm.'

'And that's Fyodor.', Kenji says a little later. 'From what day is this exactly?'

'Sigma...' Kyouka gasps, and she sees that they are wearing the same clothes as from when she accidentally bumped into Sigma. 

'Oh, hey, hang on.', Atsushi suddenly sees something. 'What's happening...?' 

'Look how scared they are.', Tanizaki remarks as he sees them cowering at the sight of the Doppel being summoned. 'They must have never seen one before, huh.'

Fukuzawa crosses his arms. 'Doesn't surprise me.'

It is over in a few seconds. 'Did it...just pull them in or something? I feel like I'm confused even more.' Kyouka thinks out loud. 

Kunikida turns the footage off and explains. 'It would appear so, yes. If we connect that to what we know already, we can be sure that behind that, there's a pocket dimension. Kind of like Anne's Room, but connected to a Doppel instead.'

'Hm. I see.', Dazai is already thinking of a skeleton of a plan based on this information alone. 'I think that I already got something. Funny that you mentioned Anne's Room, because that is actually part of it.' 

'What do you mean? What do you want to do?' Kunikida has already opened his book.

Fukuzawa wants to know it immediately. 'Please elaborate.' 

'Okay. At first, we contact the Guild remnants. Then, we go and ask the mafia and the Hunting Dogs...'

* * *

'I'm going!', Kyougoku slams his fist on the table. 'There are two Emotions left. And I'm going to make sure they will live. But first of all, the Guild stragglers finally agreed with the deal, so there's money to get. Sigma, follow my instructions.'

'You're going to guard the Emotions after that?', Fyodor nods slowly. 'And I'll hold the fort here?'

'You're right on the money.', Kyougoku points at him as Sigma walks towards him in silence. 'Previously, you could just leave, but this time, we don't have anyone who can rebuild this place like you had with Fendthope. There's important information here that needs guarding and I feel like you're the perfect person for that.'

Fyodor already knew that that was the reasoning, but he wanted to verify it. He shrugs. 'Okay, okay then...be sure to bring Sigma back alive.'

'I will. Now, let's go. Time is not our friend today.' Kyougoku turns his back to Fyodor and walks out, Sigma following him.


	9. Chapter 9

_Team Snake is standby. Team Rabbit, as soon as we're gone, you'll get in here._

...

_Roger that._

  
Dazai disables his telepathy and looks down. From the roof of a nearby warehouse, he has a nice view of the transaction that is going to take place on the backstreet. But the only thing he can see down there at the moment is Lucy with a wad of cash.

'The names of the teams...they really went overboard with the 'Kyougoku is a modern Onmyouji' thing. Zodiac signs, huh.'

While he is waiting for Kyougoku to arrive, he talks to himself. 'To name the Guild remnants 'Team Snake' and to name the Hunting Dogs 'Team Rabbit'...', He shakes his head and smiles. 'Crazy as it may sound...I'll have to give them credits for creativity.' He already had figured out that the last two Emotions are being guarded.

He gets lost in thought, and right at that moment, Kyougoku shows up. 'Ah! Time to focus.' he thinks as he edges closer to the balcony. He activates his telepathy again.

_Team Snake, get ready._

* * *

'You got the money. Is it real?' Kyougoku asks. Lucy does not flinch under the gaze of the cold grey eyes. 

'Yes, it is.', she says. 'You can check.' 

He runs the paper through his fingers, and then nods. 'Good. Where's the rest? We're going.'

Lucy knows that he wants them all together so that he can control them at once. But still, she snaps her fingers to give the sign. 

'Dazai!' 

As the rest of the Guild comes running, Lucy activates Anne's Room. 

'Here I go!' Without hesitation, Dazai jumps off the roof, throwing himself towards the backstreet. But before his feet hit the ground, he reaches Anne's Room.

'Thanks.' Dazai is still breathing heavily, but it slows down to normal as he touches down. He sees that Anne has already thrown Kyougoku into the dark backroom. 

'Okay.', he says, refocusing. 'So, I think we can carefully declare part 1 a success. Lucy, promise to stay far from me. If I touch you, it's all over.' 

'Understood.' Lucy says in a monotone voice. 

'I'll give the sign to Team Rabbit to move.', Dazai activates his telepathy once again. 'They'll deal with the Emotion.'

'But, Dazai. How did you know Kyougoku is guarding an Emotion?' Mark tilts his head in confusion.

'Failsafe. If he wouldn't manage to possess you, he'd escape in the heat of battle.', Dazai closes his eyes. 'And although they're merely tools to him, he holds them dear still. But don't worry, the Hunting Dogs are on it now.'

'And now?' Lucy wants to know if they can fight him now.

'Yeah, free him. We'll defeat him here and now.'

* * *

At the other side of Yokohama...

'If I heard Dazai's message clearly, Team Snake is in the Room now with Kyougoku, and Team Rabbit is currently on that Emotion.', Fukuzawa points up. 'Time to get Team Tiger and Team Dragon moving.' He had gathered the mafia in the Agency base, and they are ready to head out. 

'Just as a roundup.', Kunikida wants to be sure that there is no room for error at such a critical point. 'Odasaku, Atsushi and Kyouka are going into the pocket dimension once it is there after Kyouka has traced him down. If needed, we'll tire him out so it will come out forcibly. Dazai has already confirmed that Fyodor is not outside, thanks to a piece of software he lended. They have to go and rescue Fitzgerald and Louisa. As such, they'll lead. After they're gone, we'll deal with the Emotion together.' 

As he looks around, he sees various members nodding. 'Seems like it's clear. Then, there is no reason why we should not come in action. Kyouka, if you would...' 

'Certainly.' Kyouka stands up and opens the door, and the others follow her. Because she had the most close encounter with Sigma when she bumped in to him, she can pick out his trail relatively easy.

'What do you think we will encounter in that pocket dimension?' Atsushi asks Kyouka while they are still searching. It is little more than a way to kill time.

'No idea.', Kyouka shrugs and smiles somewhat awkwardly. 'But the most important thing is that we don't want to attract suspicion. Which is why we're the only three going in.' 

'Well, I've defeated rumors with just Dazai by my side.', Atsushi recalls the first two rumor battles. 'And that went just fine.'

'I doubt it will be only fighting.', Kyouka says. She clutches her charm in her hand. 'I think that we're going to find something of himself, too. And maybe, just maybe, I will be able to find out what my connection to him is.' 

'I surely hope so.' Atsushi looks forward. He is being entirely honest, although he is also curious as to what it is.

Some time later, Kyouka looks behind her to speak to the group.

'We're getting close.', she warns. 'Ready your weapons.' She does not stop looking behind her before she sees that they heed her warning, and then walks on.

'You?' Sigma looks at the group. 'Did you all...come to...fight me?' But then, he sees Kyouka. 

'Not just that.', she says, to keep it vague. 'We're getting them out of here.'

'N-no, you can't...', He wants to make it sound threatening, but fails miserably as he feels something. 'I-I...', Sigma points at Kyouka. 'Hel...p...me...' 

But then, it happens again. Instead of being surprised or scared, Kyouka runs towards him. 

'Let's go!' Atsushi and Odasaku follow her, and they shatter the glass of the mirror before disappearing.

* * *

'This is...?'

Atsushi has to admit he is surprised by the look of it. From what he can see and recognize, it looks like a big casino from the inside. _Hmm. I expected something darker and creepier_ , he thinks. To lessen suspicion, they have changed back into their civilian form.

'So, where could they be? There are a lot of people in here...', Odasaku thinks. 'It's going to be quite the operation.'

'Yes, maybe they've been changed to look entirely different. We can't exclude any scenario now.' Kyouka suggests, as someone comes walking towards them. He looks exactly the same as Sigma, but his eyes are entirely white. 

'Who are you? New guests? You must be, huh.' it says. 

'Y-yes, we are...', Atsushi stutters, having to think of something on the fly. He then points to Odasaku and Kyouka. 'We all are.'

'Wonderful.', The copy closes its eyes and clasps its hands. 'Simply wonderful. Please, make yourself at home here. There's no reason at all to be shy, we're like family here.' 

Kyouka walks in like the others, but feels increasingly uncomfortable with this politeness of the copy. But she pushes that away in her thoughts and focuses on locating Fitzgerald and Louisa instead. 

Atsushi has already made small talk with one of the 'customers' and Kyouka and Odasaku walk around a bit to see what is happening. Sometimes, when someone wins it big, Odasaku says: 'Congratulations' to be polite. 

_I doubt that we get to see the entire place_ , Kyouka thinks, until a thought strikes her. She walks towards the copy. 

'I'm so sorry to bother you, mister...', she begins innocently. 'But can you give me the directions to the toilet?' 

'Don't worry.', The copy smiles. 'You go through that door, take the first turn right, and then you should find it at your left hand.' It points at a door, and Kyouka nods. 

'Thank you so much!'

'You're welcome!'

Kyouka opens the door, but she does not heed the directions at all. _Just like I thought. There is something else going on here._

Aside from the hallway that leads towards the toilets, there are many doors from which Kyouka doesn't know if they're even open. _If this is part of Sigma, which it is, this must be the hallways of his own being_ , she thinks. _Then, I can certainly find the connection between me and him._

She opens door after door, which surprisingly aren't locked. But everytime she does so, the room behind them is empty. _They look like nothing was ever there to begin with. That is weird._

While Kyouka keeps trying, Atsushi finds Fitzgerald and Louisa behind one of the many slot machines. He gives Odasaku a quick glance, who walks over to where Atsushi is. 

_Louisa! Fitzgerald!_  
The two look up. 

_We're from the Armed Detective Agency. Louisa, you should know who we are. We've come to get you out._

Louisa shakes her head and looks down. _We don't want to_ , she 'speaks'. 

That surprises Odasaku. _Why?_

Fitzgerald takes over. _Everyone's nice, and we care for eachother...it's just like you heard. We're family, and this is our home._

Atsushi looks at Odasaku, who frowns. _That is unusual_ , he messages Atsushi. 

_That is unusual indeed. It must be the copy's effects. We'll have to take them by force._ Atsushi 'says' that to Odasaku and not to the other two.

 _You need to get out of here. Do you remember who you are?_ Odasaku wants to test the waters a bit.

 _We do._ Fitzgerald shrugs. _But this world is better than outside._

Atsushi sees a good oppertunity and takes it full. _Want to bet?_ he asks them. Louisa shakes her head heavily, but Fitzgerald is not like her.

_Certainly. What are we betting for?_

He slowly cracks a smile as his more devious side comes out. _If I win and prove my point about the outside world being better, then I'll show you what real family is. If you win, then I'll send you two back here. Deal?_

 _Deal._ Fitzgerald agrees and shakes hands with Atsushi.

But right at that moment...

'I was wrong about you!'

Suddenly, the copy enters the conversation and sees the four together. It points at Atsushi and Odasaku. 'You were not invited at all! And now you're leaving, aren't you?'

Atsushi and Odasaku both have no idea how it knows that, but transform into their magical form. Fitzgerald and Louisa do the same as to follow their example.

'Why must you leave?', it cries out. 'I'm not good enough, am I? You have to stay! All these people...I have to protect them from the outside, so no one must leave!' 

With a simple gesture, it sends the people into one of the backrooms Kyouka is searching through, leaving the main hall empty except for them.

'I'll make you stay!' 

Growling that through clenched teeth, it summons a semi-automatic gun and starts firing.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kyouka hears the noise. 'Hmm.', she mumbles. 'Looks like we aren't getting out of here any time soon. Well, that leaves me for some more time to search.'

Suddenly, Louisa runs in. 'Louisa! You...' Kyouka gasps as Louisa runs into her embrace. 

'They're fighting, as you may have noticed!', she says. 'That thing...it's completely crazy. Yandere.'

Kyouka knows she means the copy. 'It's not Sigma.', she understands. 'It will never be. My best guess is that it is a manifestation of everything that's keeping him from me, and a mockery of everything he is.'

'Sounds logical.', Louisa thinks. 'Why aren't you participating in the fight?'

Kyouka decides to tell her a shortened version. 'I suspect there's a past connection between him and me.', she says. 'And apparently, he forgot me and it looks like I repressed my memories from before age 9. So...'

'I get it, you're looking for clues.'

'Exactly. But until now, every door I've opened, just comes up in an empty room.' Kyouka shrugs.

Louisa looks like something got through her. 'Hey, maybe, if he doesn't remember you...the rooms may have been wiped clean because what used to be there...'

'...is from me! Louisa, you're a genius! We need to check those empty rooms again. Together, we can cover more ground.' 

Louisa quickly nods as they split up and check the rooms again.

* * *

'You're not giving up yet?'

Meanwhile, the tides of the battle are quite skewed. It turned out that the copy is a better fighter than they thought earlier, and doesn't seem to be hurt by any attack at all. 

'See why it's better to stay here? Look what damage you did when trying to leave.' It gestures to the battle damage at the building. Its opponents don't have any energy left to talk. 

'About time we wrap this up. It's quite clear that I won. Now...'

* * *

_Kyouka!_

Suddenly, Louisa calls Kyouka via telepathy. She runs to the place where Louisa is.

'What did you find?' she asks with her voice nearing a whisper now she has noticed that the firing has stopped.

'Look at this.', Louisa gives her something from the empty room they're standing in. 'It's so small, no wonder that you missed it.'

'That...!' Kyouka gasps and tries her best not to do that too loud. 

It is the other charm, with the other half of the star and the letters 'K-Y-O-U-K-A' on it. 

Kyouka quickly grabs hers, and, using the little magnets in them, connects them to make a whole. 

Then, everything goes white.

* * *

As Kyouka walks down the stairs and enters the living room, she immediately sees something that wasn't there the day before. 

'Mom and dad must be at work again...', she thinks. 'That must be another notebook for me! They know how much I love making things up and drawing them!' 

Exited, she picks it up and opens it. 'Ooh, the paper is so shiny! I like this!' 

She puts it down and stands up to get her colored pencils and her pens. 'Hmm...what shall I make today...?' 

After a few seconds of thinking, her pen finally touches the paper. 'I should make another character...!', she whispers to herself. 'What should his name be?' 

The more time passes by, she writes down more and more details about her character. She has decided to make him foreign, Russian, since her parents took her to see _Anastasia_. 'His name will be Sergey. And it would be really cool if he knows what someone else wants!', she says as she smiles. 'And in turn, they'd know what he wants. Yeah, that sounds nice.' Kyouka even makes a drawing on it, mainly consisting out of scribbles. However, in her mind, she knows exactly how he looks.

As Kyouka reaches the end of the page, she wants to flip it over. But suddenly, everything is erased again.

'Huh...? Wait, what! No, don't! Come back you...!' Kyouka gets angry at it, because she has to do everything again. She wants to tear her notebook apart out of pure rage, but then, she sees something.

'Ah?', Kyouka looks up and sees someone standing in front of her. He looks exactly how Kyouka portrayed her original character. 'You're...'

The man hunches over to talk to Kyouka. 'I'm Sergey...'

At that, her confusion slowly makes place for surprise. 'What...? I just wrote you in that notebook over there!' She points at said notebook. 

'And now I'm standing in front of you. Isn't that just magical?' Sergey smiles. It is the warmest smile Kyouka has ever seen. 

'Yes, it is!' Nothing is left of her former anger. 'This is amazing! I'm sure we're going to have a lot of fun!'

* * *

'Do you ever think about the future?' 

That summer, Kyouka and Sergey are sitting at the veranda. Kyouka has been busy crafting something Sergey can't yet make out. 

'Nah, not really.', Kyouka says as she shrugs. 'The kids at school talk about it the entire time. I don't know what I want later.'

'That's okay. It's okay to not know yet.', Sergey moves his hand around a lock of his long, two-tone hair. 'I don't know either.'  
'Yeah, like...some of them say: 'I want to earn a lot of money.', 'I want to get a really awesome job.' or 'I want to be really pretty.', but I feel...' She doesn't find the words and stops mid-sentence.

'...that you're weird for not being like them.' Sergey finishes it. 

'Exactly.', Kyouka smiles. 'I'm kinda scared to tell them that I don't know yet. Then, they'll tease me even more. I don't want that.'

'And what if you say...', He thinks out loud. '...that you just want to be happy? Nothing more, nothing less? Just that?'

Kyouka puts down her creations and thinks about it too. 'That's...', It started something in her. A new train of thought just left the station. 'Simple...but I feel like it's a good starting point.'

'I'm saying that because...', Sergey scratches the back of his neck, kind of hesitating to admit. '...because I decided that that was where I want to go for.'

It remains silent for a bit, until Kyouka breaks that silence. 

'Let's make it a promise.', She says, holding up her newly made charms. 'I'll give the one with my name to you, and I'll keep the one with your name.' 

Sergey leans over to see them. 'They're really beautiful...but why does my name only read 'Sey'?' he asks.

'I, uhh, I didn't have enough beads.', A small blush covers her face. 'But I think it's okay.'

'It's a promise then.', Sergey says as Kyouka gives him the charm with her name on it. 'Everytime I see this, I will think back of our promise to be happy. I'll keep it as long as I live.'

'Then, I will too!' Kyouka gives him a smile while she holds the charm close to her. 

'Promise?'

'Promise.'

* * *

Summer becomes autumn, and soon, it becomes spring again. On a certain day...

'Mom, where's Sergey?'

Kyouka is playing in the garden when she asks her mom something. 

'He's just buying groceries. He'll come back soon.', she answers. 'He is really like a big brother to you, isn't he?'

'Yeah, he is.', Kyouka averts her eyes, looking at the ball in her hand instead. 'The only thing that's missing, is that you aren't his mom.'

'Haha, that is true.' She laughs as Kyouka goes back to her game again while she goes to ask her husband something, who is inside the house.

But a little bit later...

'Mom! There you are again!' Kyouka is overjoyed as she sees that her mom came back. 'What do you-' She can't manage to end her words as she notices a strange mark in her mom's neck. Soon after, her father walks out too, with the same mark. 

'Aahh...you're scaring me...! Mom? Dad?' She has never seen this dead look in the eyes of her parents. Kyouka flinches as they both unsheath their katana.

'What are you doing? Aaah! Noo, you...!' Since there is no one next to them and her, Kyouka knows they're headed for her. She looks around for a slim chance to get away, maybe an escape path. As she does so, she sees an incubator sitting on the fence. _Didn't one of those girls tell that they grant wishes?_ Kyouka hasn't got any time to think about that and shouts: 

'Help me! I don't want to die! Please, let me live...!'

A flash of light rises up from Kyouka's chest as she feels an incredible pain. She breathes out as it dies down a few seconds later and a purple gem is in her hands.

'I...'

She looks at her parents again, and sees that a ghost swordswoman has appeared. It slashes their throats, killing them. Kyouka watches as they fall down. 

'Aaaahhh!!' 

* * *

Not long after, the police is there, and the entire garden is marked with yellow-and-black tape. 

'I...I...!' Kyouka still has the purple gem in her hands, and turned around. She doesn't want to see it, doesn't want to believe it. 

'Let's get you to social services.', a policewoman says to her. 'You'll grow up with new parents soon.'

'I don't want new parents!', Kyouka shouts. 'I just want Sergey to come back!'

'Who is that?'

'My friend...'

'There doesn't live anyone here with that name.', the policewoman mentions. 'Your imaginary friend, I assume?'

'No! He isn't my imaginary friend! He's...' But her explanation goes down in tears. 

Suddenly, she hears another female voice behind her. 'I'm mentioned in their will.', it says. 'Look here. I should be the one to take care of her.'

Shocked, Kyouka turns around to see a red-haired lady in an elegant kimono. 

'Very well, miss.'

The woman bows down to face Kyouka and pats her back. 'Come on. Let's go.' She seems nice to Kyouka, so she accepts her help.

'Very well.', she says. 'You're Kyouka, right?'

'Yes...'

'My name is Kouyou.', the woman, apparently named Kouyou, introduces herself. 'And I will help you.'

As Kyouka walks away with Kouyou, she looks at the charm she is holding in her other hand. _To be happy, huh_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now you know where the title refers to.


End file.
